Former Pak PM Abbasi arrested by NAB in LNG case

The former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Liquefied Natura Gas (LNG) case, according to media reports. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader has been reportedly arrested from the Toll Plaza while he was going to Lahore to attend a news conference by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

Abbasi is facing the accusation of handing over a tender worth Rs 220 billion to a company in which he was a shareholder himself. Abbasi is the second PML-N leader after Nawaz Sharif to be arrested during Imran Khan government that has started a crackdown on those involved in corruption. In April, the government imposed a travel ban on Abbasi, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, and five other persons in the same case.

The PML-N government in its tenure from 2013-2018 completed two LNG terminals while just days before completion of its term on May 31, it stopped the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) from going ahead with bidding for the allocation of a site for constructing a third terminal.